Fertilizer and process of making the same.



UNITED STATES PATENT, OFFICE.

HENRY BLUMENBERG, JR, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR T FRIEDA BLUMENBERG, OF, NEW YORK, N. Y.

' FERTILIZER AND rnocnss or MAKING THE smn;

No Drawing.

new and useful Improvements in Fertilizerw and Processes of Making the Same, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to a fertilizer and a process of making the same.

It is an object of this invention to provide a fertilizer which is produced in an economical manner and which possesses physical 1 properties which make it especially suitable in drilling machines. Sodium nitrate and gypsum are valuable fertilizers, but are obectionable for use in drilling machines because of their hygroscopic qualities. I com I bine the two, thereby producing. a non- 20. hygroscopic, brittle mass, which can. be easily powdered and applied tothe soil by means of drilling machines.

My invention consists in the new fertilizer and in the process. of producing the same, as hereinafter described and claimed. I take an insoluble hosphateor sulfate or carbonate of an alkallne earth metal, referably pulverized,'and mix the same with a nitrate of an alkali metal, such as sodium 80 nitrate, in the proportion of one part nitrate of an alkali metal to one part alkaline earth metal, sulfate, phosphate or a combination of the same. w The mixture is heated to a temperature of 300 to 350 centigrade, until 85 the mass is fused. Care should be taken not to carry the heating beyond the point where the sodium nitrate dissociates and nitrogen oxid fumes are given ofl". If lime or gypsum are mixed withsodiumnitrate and fused, as

40 just described, the, resulting "mass. besides being non-hygroscopic, has the advantage of containing the lime in a form readily available whensubjectcdto such natural agencies.

as are contained in the soilmoisture, humus,

carbon dioin'd, and the like. These agencies efiect a conversion whereby the nitrogen of cium and a nitrate of an alkali metal, until the sodium nitrate combines with the'lime and the gypsum, forming .calciumgnitr'ate and sodium sulfate, theformer being. a valu+ able fertilizer non-toxic to plantlife. This double decomposition hasmany advantages over the use of sodium nitrate alone, which is eventually converted into sodium carbonate Specification of Letters Patent.

phosphoric acid made Patented May 14, 1918.

Application filed July 16, 1917. Serial No. 180,801.

I find, furthermore, that when sodium nitrate is fused with natural rock phosphate (commonly called tri-calcium-phosphate) thatthe phosphoric acid becomes available far more readily to plantlife than if the plain ground phosphate rock is used. I do not mean b this thatthis process will pro-- duce availa 1e phosphoric acid as quickl as by the super p osphate process, but it will produce available phosphoric acid for plant life far. more readily than if the crude ground rock is used.

The solubilities a the alkaline earth, carbonates, sulfates and phosphates in the resence of the alkali metal nitrate has con known to analytical chemists for some time,

but no direct fusion of this combination has been known, or that the nitrate can be brought forward or applied inthis form to the soil. It can be readily seen that by fusing either calcium sulfate, tri-calcium-phosphate, or any combination thereof, that an alkali metal nitrate, as above described,

eliminates all moisture from the material by the mere fact of this fusion, and, further. more, brings the phosphoric acid into a more available form for plant life assimilation than by mixing it mechanically withthe alkaline nitrate or spraying them separately on the ground.

The fusion of several hours of this mass brings about a molecular combination which apparently responds more quickl to the humus, moisture and carbon dioxld in the soil than if the crude materials were used as heretofore.

I claim:

1 A fertilizer consisting of a fused mass containing a nitrate of an alkali metal, and an insoluble salt of calcium.

2. A fertilizer consisting of a fused inass containing sodium nitrate and tri-calclumphosphate. I

3., A process of making a fertilizer, comprising heating a mixture of a salt of calname to this specification.

HENRY BLUMENBERG, J. 

